Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from our little loves!

Sister Love

It started a couple of months ago, when Kate became old enough to start interacting with the people around her and discovered (drum roll please...) her BIG SISTER.  As much as Kate loves Mommy and Daddy (the ones who feed her and change her), it seems like nothing gets her quite as excited as the cat or Tess.  Since the cat usually doesn't stick around to play, Tess gets left with all the opportunity to entertain Kate, and Kate is an eager audience of one.  Kate clearly ADORES Tess and thinks she is the funniest thing ever (on two legs).  Tess adores being adored, and when she is not paranoid that Kate is trying to take or break her toys, she loves to put on a show for baby sis.  

People had warned me about the flooding of the heart that would occur when I saw my two babies playing together.  They weren't making it up.  These pictures don't really do it justice, but I also know this is just the beginning.  Mommy has a new radar: sister love photo opps!  As I watch them together, in the quiet and secret corners of my heart I am praying that they become best friends and treasure each other, and don't kill each other in the process. 

Park Play & Growing Up

We headed over to the "swing park" on Saturday for some outdoor time with the girls.  Tess LOVES the big-girl swings at this particular park, which are basically like chairs that hang from a chain.  Baby Kate took her first spin on the baby swing, and she absolutely LOVED it!  Tess was so happy to see Kate enjoying it, she wanted to help push baby sister.  It's so much FUN seeing the girls interact.  Kate just adores Tess, and Tess just loves being adored. (We will see how this dynamic plays out and changes in the coming years!)

Our little Tess just isn't so little any more.  I don't know at what age she stops being a "toddler," but she acts (and sometimes looks) so much older than 3.  I'm hanging on to Kate's baby-ness and Tess's little girl-ness for dear life!

Introducing Kate Anna Hayden



She's finally here! Introducing Kate Anna Hayden, born Thursday, May 27, 2014 at 2:39am.  She weighed 7lbs, 1oz and measured 19 inches long.  Mommy, Daddy, and big sister Tess are all thrilled and full of love for such a beautiful and precious gift!

 

On Wednesday the 26th I was scheduled for my 39-week checkup with my OBGYN, but was struggling with what I thought was either mild food poisoning or the flu! I called the doctor's office to ask if I should bother coming in, since I was so sick (I didn't want to infect everyone), and they told me to get myself to the hospital ASAP for a baby check.  I quickly packed a bag and hit the road with my mom, Meg, who was thankfully still in town after coming up to help with baby preparations.  Chad was still at school!  After a few hours in triage the determination was made that I was, in fact, having a baby.  I was quickly admitted and Chad wrapped up his workday to come to the hospital and be with me.  By 5:00pm or so, we were settled into our delivery room with an epidural on the way...and Chad was having his own food poisoning/flu experience!  To make what could be a very long story short, I was so relieved that, unlike the ordeal of delivering Tess, this time was ultimately very quick and relatively painless!  I had the most wonderful nurse, too.  Baby Kate arrived at around 2:40am after just 2 big pushes.  My very first words -- upon seeing the nurse hold her up -- were, "Oh! She's SO beautiful!"  That's been the general consensus from everyone who's met her: she's just a gorgeous baby.  Most importantly, she is healthy!  Chad went home to rest and recover (he was randomly vomiting all night long), so again Meg came to the rescue and stayed with Kate and I at the hospital. 

 

We had many visitors come to meet the new baby, but the most special one was BIG SISTER Tess.  I have never seen Tess so happy in her entire little life -- it's a moment I will never forget.  We are so grateful to Chad's parents Barbara and Paul for taking care of our #1 girl while we welcomed our #2. 

 

Now the journey REALLY begins...we get to figure out how to be parents of two wonderful girls!